Many Faces of JJ

I was looking through my photos from Easter and found this set. 

They totally capture the essence of JJ, my niece.

 "What are you looking at?"

"OMG, Aunt MeeMee." 

"Is that candy over there? Give me one!"

Did you notice the portable high chair JJ is sitting in? It's the perfect size when put on the floor - they can back their little bottoms right into it!

I'm not a mom but I think this is the best invention EVER.

Use it at home and don't waste space on a high chair.

Take it to grandma's house.

Use it to corral crazy toddlers ANYWHERE (even the cabin).

NOTE:  The link in this post is an affiliate link. Just lettin' you know!

Wednesday Loves

This is my second attempt at this blog post (let's just say that my iPad app is now in the doghouse) so I want to say that it will be better than the first attempt...but I'm pretty sure it won't be!

I have struggled of late to write posts with real content and just don't know what's wrong with me (don't worry "I'm not crazy...my mother had me tested." Name that show.).

So I am once again resorting to my iPhone photos and Instagram to create some content, instead of writing an inspiring, uplifting or motivational post...wait a minute, that doesn't happen even when I do a written post!

Oh well, enjoy some snippets of my life of late and if you find my inspiration, please tell it I miss it!

My cards for Blissdom arrived yesterday! So exciting. I can't believe it's a week away. Just found out Rascal Flatts is performing - wow.

I'm in LOVE with tights. My sisters and I actually spent 30 minutes in the hosiery section of Filene's Basement while we were in NYC this fall. (Quick fact...the store is NOT in an actual basement, see photo below.) I loved the above tights so much, I bought them in brown too.

This is the view from the Filene's Basement in NYC...as you can see NO ONE was out that day...maybe because it was cold and raining. Didn't have to fight crowds but made it hard to enjoy our walks through the city.

This is my adorable niece whose parents left her in my care for several days while they went on a cruise. I returned her to them with a double ear infection and hair that hadn't been washed in days. I told them the only guarantees I would make was that I would feed her and she'd be alive when they returned. Both happened.

This is my favorite photo of late...my two youngest nephews dumped a gallon bag of "army men" on the rug (which hasn't been swept in weeks) at my front door. It looks to be a scene out of Home Alone when Kevin set the traps for the pair of bungling burglars. Luckily, I remembered they were there as I came down the steps or I may have taught them some new words after stepping on them in bare feet!

Stand In Parenting Fail

So, I recently experience life as a single working mother aunt while Baby Sister and her husband spent a week on a cruise ship. I only had her for four nights (I don't think my sister trusted me for any longer than that).

I'm used to just taking care of myself - and then probably not that well - so having a 15-month-old added to the mix was quite the experience.

I'm happy to report that she is alive and well, but that's about it. 

Here are a few things that I failed at as a stand-in parent:

• Baths...she may have only gotten one, on the day before her parents were due back.
• Feeding...she may have eaten a lot of Puffs, bread and crackers (she just wasn't into the green beans and carrots).
• Nose wiping...the daycare was probably appalled at the dried boogers on the girl's face when I brought her in the morning. On the bright side, the boogers were gone when I picked her up! (Sorry for mentioning boogers...but it's kind of fun to say and write. Boogers!)
• Hair...major fail on this end. She has very fine blond hair and the ladies at daycare usually put it up in cute ponytails all over her head.

Here's a very grainy photo of what her hair looked like after daycare...should have gotten a shot of it from the back.

Here are some photos of her hair that night when I took the ponytail holders out...

Unfortunately, I waited until right before bedtime to take them out so she went to bed looking like this and you can just imagine what her hair looked like the next morning! 

I'm pretty sure the ladies at daycare will have something to say to my sister about my stand-in parenting skills!

Gotta Wear Shades

Found this photo on my phone (gotta love Instagram) this morning and just had to share it!

Happy Thursday!

Aunt is My Fav Title

My youngest niece is hanging out with me tomorrow. I thought this onesie would be appropriate for the visit.

Source: cafepress.com via Danielle on Pinterest

Celebrating Dad

To the best Dad (and Papaw) ever...

I love you!

Feeling a Bit Random

I'm feeling a bit random tonight. 

Hope you bear with me...here we go!

Did you see the cool Google effect earlier this week? I called it the "Google guitar."

 When you ran the mouse over the strings, it played like a guitar. Very fun and cool.

Last week, I was able to hit Half-Price Happy Hour at Steak-n-Shake twice! Score.

After one long day at work, I might have even gotten a chocolate milkshake AND a Coke Zero...

In my defense, it was still cheaper than the milkshake would have been at full price!

Isn't this the most adorable dress ever? I couldn't resist it...even if it's a size 3 and my oldest niece is just 8 months old. It won't go out of style in 2 years, will it?

 Speaking of my eldest niece...here she is.

Can you see her hair? I was having a bit of fun while riding in the backseat with her!

It cooled off today after a week of very hot weather so I decided it was time to work in my "yard" and put out a few flowers. Here are a couple of flowerpots...

I also put out some mulch. My fingernails may never be the same...

One more thing...

Did you hear that we are giving away a SIGNED copy of The Pioneer Woman's book - Black Heels and Tractor Wheels - over on Real Farmwives (and Friends) of America? Check it out!

Well, that's about all I have. Check back tomorrow for my fourth recipe in my RFOA and Gooseberry Patch project!

A Full Head of Hair and a Precious Face

Exactly four months ago (yes, on 10-10-10) my first gorgeous niece was born. I already had four - yes FOUR - nephews so I was ready to spoil a wee lass after years of tractors, trucks and super heroes.

Today (on 2-10-11) my second precious niece was born (to a different sister, of course).

Here she is...

Isn't she gorgeous? And that head of hair...out of this world. Her mama had a full head of jet black hair when she was born, so I can't wait to compare this little girl to her mama's baby photos.

I couldn't help taking a BUNCH of photos. Eventually the flash made her open her eyes! Even more gorgeous!

Being the big sister that I am, I couldn't resist snapping this photo of Lil' Sister's feet. Isn't her pedicure lovely?

Can't wait to start spoiling this little girl rotten? She's going to look SOOOO cute in that butterfly outfit!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

This is my first time doing a "What I'm Loving Wednesday" post and I'm so excited. 

So here we go...

I'm loving the concept of "What I'm Loving Wednesday" - it's reminds me of my random postings but with a theme!

I'm loving that my baby sis and her family are moving back to the family farm this weekend! Now she'll be just 5 minutes away from me instead of 2 hours. Add to that, my other two sisters now practically live next door (in separate homes) to my baby sister and you have pure sisterhood bliss! I'm looking forward to a lot of sister bonding times over the next 40 years or so.

I'm loving that ALL of my nephews and nieces will be within 5 minutes of their Aunt MeeMee now, including my niece who through a scheduled C-section should be arriving tomorrow! There is no other role I enjoy more than my role as Aunt MeeMee...who would blame me with kids this cute...check out the huge flower and the jeggings on that girl!

I'm loving my coworkers who when I'm having a bad day supply me with this...

no more words needed!

I'm loving that I can reach out to other bloggers with questions about "how they do that" on their blogs and they are willing to help me. Thank you!

I'm loving my community of blogging pals who in some cases are wonderful friends outside of cyberspace. I grew up on a farm, studied agriculture in college and continue to be involved in this great industry that feeds our community, country and world...and these women are wonderful representations of who and what agriculture is! The Real Farmwives of America and Friends are ALL actually either farmwives or somehow tied to farming...unlike those other "wives" out there some of whom are not wives...I don't get that.

I'm loving that after what seems like MONTHS of frigid temperatures, ice, snow and gloom, it's supposed to hit 40 degrees by Sunday. Bring on the sun!

What are you loving today? Visit this kind of love and join the fun!

An Aunt's Obsession...Matching Outfits

I've been an aunt for just over nine years. It's probably my FAVORITE role EVER!

For the first nine years of aunthood (If there can be motherhood and fatherhood, I think there can be aunthood!), I was blessed with four nephews.

I wouldn't trade them for the world. Growing up in a house of girls (I'm the second of four) in NO way prepared me to be an aunt to four very active, very funny, very unique little boys. But it's been a fun ride and I cannot wait to see who they become as they grow older.

As an aunt, I've felt that it's my duty to provide, if not matching, then at least coordinating shirts at every opportunity.

Here they are on our Disney vacation last summer....

These next shirts were actually provided by another sister...

Notice something (or someone) different in the above picture? Very observant!

My niece, Jocelyn Jane (JJ), joined the family last October. She's adorable...

She will be joined by yet another NIECE in just a couple of weeks. Yes, that's TWO nieces in less than six months!!

When I learned that I would have two nieces so close in age, I'm afraid I went a little crazy with my "matching obsession." My sisters have already received matching onesies proclaiming each of the girls as "Papaw's Favorite."

Then I found THESE in the clearance section of Old Navy after Halloween...

How perfect...I love butterflies and I love my nieces. In these outfits I've combined both of my loves!

On that same shopping trip, I found these coordinating sun hats! How perfect for those summer afternoons by the pool with Aunt MeeMee!

Here are my latest purchases...perfect for next Christmas!

I might need therapy...probably for more than just this though!

Playing Catch Up with a Catch-All Post

I can't believe it is December 1st.

I can't believe there are only 24 days until Christmas.

I can't believe that I have not slept more than five hours a night for the last several nights.

And I can't believe that I haven't blogged for almost a week.

It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about (that's happened before) but I swear I haven't sat down for days! I haven't even had time to read any of my favorite blogs. I try to at least glance through my blog roll first thing in the morning and visit at least one or two but that's even been difficult.

(Note to my pals in the blogging world: I miss you and I will be by soon!)

So to make up for lost time, I've decided to play a bit of catch up and post about all of my half-baked post ideas from the last several weeks. So here we go...

P.B. & Fluff Sandwich
From my recent trip to the East Coast, I brought home a wonderful treat...a tub of Marshmallow Fluff!

They may sell this wonderous treat in Indiana but I have never found it in a grocery store near me so I try to grab a tub (a small one) when I'm out visiting friends. Now, out East they also have wonderful rolls & bread (I think it's the Portugese influence) and I love eating this sandwich on a fresh roll. Yummy! So when I came home after my recent trip, I picked up some wheat rolls from the "marked down" bakery rack (Do you have a rack like this? It's a great thing.) and put one under the broiler before adding the PB and fluff...next time I may spread the fluff before it goes under the heat and see what happens. I've also been know to grab a spoonful of fluff and a handful of NutterButters and go to town.

Marshmallow Fluff...a man-made perfect food!

An addiction...I'm calling them on it

Something I also realized when I was out East is that those folks have a serious addiction...to Dunkin Donuts coffee! You can't go anywhere and NOT see more than one person holding a DD cup. The YMCA to watch a bunch of three-year-olds "play" basketball. The Pop Warner championship game to watch a bunch of nine-year-olds play football. Wal-Mart. The mall. This white stryfoam cup is EVERYWHERE!

Wareham, Mass. certainly runs on Dunkin's. I miss having four Dunkin' Donuts within 10 minutes of me!

My nephews & niece
They are hilarious. They are adorable. They are rotten. They are growing up way too fast. Enough said.

15 minutes of cleaning...
I'm not the neatest person in the world. (OK, mom...quit laughing, you'll hurt yourself.) My house is messy. My car is messy. My office at work is messy. I'm messy! Add a real aversion to cleaning (and the love of a great deal) and you can imagine what my house looks like after a couple of busy weeks.

Once my house gets to be too messy even for me, I try to clean in spurts. Usually I set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes and pick up until time expires. The other day I did a quick calculation of the total square footage of my 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath condo and determined that if I cleaned for 15 minutes a day, it would take me...OK I didn't really do the math. I hate math almost as much as I hate cleaning. Let's just say that it would take a long time. I did do a series of 15-minute sessions last weekend and didn't let myself get distracted by the TV or computer so my place isn't a disaster but I won't be hosting a party any time soon!

Trying out Bobby's Thanksgiving dessert
After cheering the Pioneer Woman to victory again Bobby Flay on Throwdown, I decided to try my hand at the losing dessert...Bobby's pumpkin bread pudding. It looked delicious during the show. PW's own daughter endorsed it and then made it herself, so I thought "why not?" I wanted to make it for dessert on Thanksgiving. We were having sausage gravy and biscuits (well...we had hamburger gravy because there's beef  - not pork - in the freezer...gotta love a farm family's freezer) for lunch. What...were we supposed to have something else on Thanksgiving? Sorry, I digress.

Well...I didn't pull up the recipe until the morning I wanted to make it. I did bake a loaf of pumpkin bread (from a box) but I didn't realize all of the ingredients involved (11 egg yolks, brandy, half 'n half, heavy whipping cream). After a run to the grocery store, I was ready to start. Three hours and a water bath later, the dessert was done and half of the water bath was at the bottom of my mom's oven!

I took ZERO photos of the process or the final product. It was a great tasting dessert but I'm not sure it was worth the effort...two runs through a strainer, just sayin'!

Turkey Day Shopping
Since my family didn't celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, I had some time on my hands. Walgreens and CVS were having some great sales and both were open on Thursday. So...I hit three different Walgreens and two CVS stores! I was going to post about all of my free and "better than free" deals, but...well you know. Now, did I need the eight tubes of toothpaste? Probably not, but I now have a bag of toiletries to donate to a local charity, a bag for my sisters and a bag to take in for my coworkers! I also got some great toy deals for the nephews and for an indian school that my office buys for each year.

To decorate or not
I love Christmas. I love Christmas music, movies and TV specials. I love Christmas shopping and gift giving. I love Christmas decorations...especially nativity scenes and snowmen. However, I don't do a lot of holiday entertaining and it seems like a lot of effort to decorate my house just for me. I didn't decorate last year and the only snowman decoration that I put out last year is STILL on my mantle (he's very small).

I think decorating would cheer me up but I just don't know...

Giveaways
There are some great giveaways out there on some of my favorite blogs. I'm not going to mention them all here, but Little Miss Can't Be Wrong is hosting a fun one over at how i met your father. She's giving away a beautiful "Key to your Heart" necklace. Go over there and check it out. If you decide to comment, please let her know that I sent you!

WHEW! I feel better now. Hopefully, I won't go so long without a post again. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed my "blogging time" both writing my own and reading others.

I think I'll go to bed now. Maybe I'll get six hours of sleep tonight!



Happy Halloween

While I'm waiting for the doorbell to ring later this evening, here's a photo of my sweet, sweet niece awaiting her very first Halloween!

The pants she's wearing above are the ones I bought for my oldest nephew to wear on his very first Halloween nine years ago!

Can't wait to see the rest of the costumes!

Happy Halloween!

UPDATE:  Three of the four nephews arrived.

Aren't they cute?

Here's what they really look/act like.

The last nephew arrived a little while ago. I just love his costume! He even had shiny black dress shoes to wear thanks to our other sister. One of her boys wore them to a wedding so tonight was the second time they've been worn.

I also love how he instinctively put his hand on the billy club...just like a real policeman!

While waiting on the cops to arrive, I actually had my first non-family member trick-or-treater in the two years I've lived here! How exciting.

Though, I think the porch light is going off...guess I'll have to eat the leftover candy. Bummer...

Wordless Wednesday: My Heart

Nine years ago from this coming Saturday, my first nephew was born.

I fell in love instantly. I love watching him grow up and become his own person. I'm a very lucky Auntie to have such wonderful nephews (and now a niece).

Linking to: Wordless Wednesday, A Beautiful Mess, Live and Love Out Loud, and My Life in Jenga.

Welcoming a New Member to My Family

Baby Sister (aka Barbara over at Frugalista Farm Life) welcomed her first child into the world last night.

I guest blogged over at Frugalista Farm Life this morning so check out the details there.

More about my beautiful niece later...